You may not want to be my friend...

...when you hear what I've been up to. I haven't washed my hair since Sunday. That's right. Since Sunday. On purpose. No, I'm not just the gross kid in your 10th grade English class. I'm turning into a crazy hippie.

I've been reading a lot lately about the chemicals in a lot of the everyday products used around an average household, and it's a lot of things that I don't want to a: put into or onto my body, or b: put into my environment (immediate and global). So I started small, by making an all-purpose cleaner to use instead of a commercial multi-surface spray. I use a combination of white vinegar (bactericidal, deoderant, solvent), tea tree oil (fungicidal, mold-icidal), and peppermint essential oil (pretty smelling and bactericidal), and then dilute that down with plain old water. Verdict? I love it. It's a little pricey to initially buy the oils, but you only need about 10 drops of each in a huge bottle of spray, so they last forever. It works great to sanitize, de-gunk, and generally clean up any hard surface, and we've even started using it to clean up after the dog's indiscretions on the carpet. I like how effective it is, I like that if she licks it, I don't worry, I like that it's super cheap to make, and while we don't really mind the vinegar smell, it does go away when it dries. Do it.

That was my baby step into "green" cleaning. I have done some other small things along the way, nothing to toot a horn about though. Until this week, when I finally got up the nerve to no 'poo. There isn't anything terribly harmful to people in most shampoos, but sodium laurel sulfate, a common detergent that is responsible for most of your "sudsing" products, is extremely harmful to aquatic life when it ends up in the water. And all that shampooing and conditioning is mostly just a gimmick anyway! Shampoos are much harsher than they need to be, stripping helpful natural protective oils from your scalp and hair, thus necessitating the need for conditioner to replenish some of that lost moisture.

Enter the "no 'poo" movement! It's cheaper, it's greener, give it a shot. I combined a few tablespoons of baking soda with a few drops of peppermint essential oil (I love that stuff--so refreshing in the shower too!) and some warm water in an old glass bottle that used to hold olive oil. Shake vigorously. I then applied that to my wet hair in the shower, concentrating on the roots and scalp. We're protecting the good oil, remember? I scrub it around in my hair like I would shampoo, then rinse. It won't foam up like shampoo, but don't freak out. Rinse well, because I hear that the baking soda can irritate your scalp if you leave it in there. Natural doesn't always mean harmless! I then used a combination of apple cider vinegar and water (about half and half) in another old glass bottle, and I applied that to the length and ends of my hair, staying away from the roots. The vinegar rinse actually acts like a conditioner! (I'm sure there's great science for that, but I don't know it off the top of my head.) I've heard mixed reviews about rinsing vs. not rinsing the vinegar, but I rinsed because I didn't want to smell like salad dressing. (Although they say the smell goes away when your hair dries.)

Admittedly, there is somewhat of a "transition" period for your hair as you stop shampooing. Your hair is used to overproducing oil to keep up with the shampoo detergents. It takes it a while to get the memo that it can relax. Also, depending on your particular hair, you may need more or less baking soda, and more or less vinegar. I'm not quite a whole week out yet, but I have had to wash my hair every day, whereas I used to get by with every 2-3 days. I've been told to give this a whole month before passing judgment, but I can already tell you that my hair is holding curl much better, even after this short of a time. I won't make up my mind yet, but I'll keep you posted.